Saturday, August 20, 2011

In a rare foreign visit confirmed by state-run KCNA, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il on Saturday arrived via his armored train in Russia, where he will discuss economic projects and meet with President Dmitry Medvedev. His present visit is the first since 2002.

A Kremlin statement described the upcoming summit between leaders as the “main event” during Kim’s trip to the Far East and Siberian regions. The trip comes at a time when the Stalinist dictatorship is both pushing for aid and facing international pressure to resume nuclear talks, suspended since early 2009.

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Everyone seems to have a strong opinion about North Korea these days, with loaded words like “reform” and “collapse” on the tips of many tongues. Few, however, can speak of the secretive country from what they have seen with their own eyes.

Walters Keats, president of Illinois-based Asia Pacific Travel LTD (APTL), can talk from experience -- the tour operator has visited the North some 25 times. The country, he finds, is in the midst of change.

North Korean trade officials visited Myanmar this week to discuss a possible deal to import Burmese rice to ease major food shortages at home, a government official said on Wednesday.

A meeting was held on Tuesday in the country's biggest city, Yangon, but the terms of the agreement and how North Korea planned to pay for the rice were not known, the official told Reuters, requesting anonymity.

A North Korea-flagged cargo ship named Tumangang has been docked in the port city since Monday. Witnesses and a Reuters photographer said the vessel appeared empty and no cargo was seen being loaded or unloaded.